Daughter wins £127,500 from mother’s estate for years of dementia care
Bern Rogers, 71, has been awarded £127,500 from her late mother’s estate for the care she provided, after a six-and-a-half-year dispute with her five siblings. Rogers says she cared for her mother, who had dementia, around the clock for two-and-a-half years and that her mother had agreed she would be paid. The family conflict led to her being reported to police and charged, leaving her feeling treated like a criminal.
Her mother, Sheila Wills, moved from Norfolk to Rogers’s Bristol home in 2017, and was diagnosed with dementia the following year. Rogers and her husband said Wills eventually needed continuous help with personal care and eating, and that they could not leave her alone; Rogers slept beside her during her final weeks in the first Covid lockdown. She initially took £100,000 after Wills died in April 2020, but the money was seized amid the legal dispute. Her brother, the estate’s executor, said he and his siblings had not known of any separate agreement with Rogers.
In short
- Bern Rogers won £127,500 for caring for her mother.
- The family dispute lasted six-and-a-half years.
- Her siblings disputed whether a payment agreement existed.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Rogers’s case is that she provided years of intensive, round-the-clock care that her mother needed, and that Wills had agreed she would be paid. Awarding compensation can recognise substantial work that might otherwise have required costly outside care, while respecting a parent’s wishes and preventing one relative from bearing the burden without support. Against that background, the award may be seen as a fair payment from the estate rather than an arbitrary preference.
The case against
Her siblings’ case is that they were unaware of any separate payment agreement, so a large claim made after their mother’s death could not be checked with her and may affect how the estate is shared. Where one person’s account of a private agreement is disputed, requiring clear evidence can protect all beneficiaries and ensure the estate is distributed according to documented wishes. They may also accept that Rogers gave valuable care while questioning whether the amount and basis of payment were established fairly.
Explained simply
When someone dies in England and Wales, their estate is the money and property they leave behind. A will usually sets out who should receive it, but a person may also claim money from an estate for work or care they say was promised and went unpaid.
Dementia can affect memory, understanding and a person’s ability to manage daily tasks, so someone with the condition may need extensive support. Families may arrange that care themselves or seek outside help, and disagreements can arise over the work involved and whether payment was agreed.
The dispute involved Sheila Wills’s estate and her six children, with one son acting as executor, responsible for administering it. The case matters because it raises questions about how care given within a family is recognised and how claims against an estate are resolved.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “My siblings made me feel like a criminal after I cared for our dying mother 24 hours a day, says daughter who has now won £127,500 from her estate after bitter family court battle”.